Has anyone upgraded the Hard Drive?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Cleveland, OH
Has anyone upgraded the Hard Drive?
I'm picking up my black 2009 Lancer GTS today. Can't wait! I have a few projects planned for this thing, so look forward to seeing a lot from me.
The first thing I plan on doing is upgrading the HDD. 7 GB for audio? Not enough.
Has anyone done this before? Does anyone know if it's the software on the hard drive that limits the music storage to 7 GB?
Has anyone performed this upgrade? Post about it here.
The first thing I plan on doing is upgrading the HDD. 7 GB for audio? Not enough.
Has anyone done this before? Does anyone know if it's the software on the hard drive that limits the music storage to 7 GB?
Has anyone performed this upgrade? Post about it here.
Last edited by presecco; Aug 22, 2008 at 06:39 AM.
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Ye Area
I'm pretty sure the space on the HDD is taken up mostly by the navigation maps. I'm sure a gigabyte or so might be for the actual OS itself, which ends up leaving about 7GB for music. The only way I could see you being able to do this is if you contacted a dealership, have them install a new HDD you purchased, and then have them flash the HDD with the OS and navigation maps. I'm sure it's possible, as it's unlikely that there could be a limitation of 7GB, considering it seems unlikely such an esoteric number would be the limit.
The only problem is that, once again, most likely you'd have to have the dealership do this.
There is a possible way for you do to it, but it requires a bit of computer knowledge and the know-how to get to the HDD. I'm not sure on the latter, but the former would require the HDD, the newer HDD you want that's the same format as the HDD in the Lancer (My guess is that it's a SATAII (Also called 3.0 for the 3.0GB/s transfer rate)), a transfer cable that can allow your PC to connect to the HDD (eg. USB to SATA or USB to IDE), and software for making and transferring HDD images. In the end, it may not even be worth the effort, because it may just not work.
Essentially, if you don't know what any of the stuff above is, don't try this. You'll prolly just end up screwing up your HDD.
Like I said earlier, your best bet would be to go to a dealership and ask their technicians about it. It'll cost ~$300 in total, depending on the dealerships service charges, charges for installing the nav software, and the price of the HDD, which, of course, depends on the brand/size.
If you do have a tech friend who can help you with all of this (and by that I don't mean the rich kid who "built" his computer. Be wary of him, he often times doesn't know what he's doing), you may have a shot. Brands of HDDs I recommend are Seagate, Western Digital, and Maxtor (Seagate 1, with the other two tied).
The only problem is that, once again, most likely you'd have to have the dealership do this.
There is a possible way for you do to it, but it requires a bit of computer knowledge and the know-how to get to the HDD. I'm not sure on the latter, but the former would require the HDD, the newer HDD you want that's the same format as the HDD in the Lancer (My guess is that it's a SATAII (Also called 3.0 for the 3.0GB/s transfer rate)), a transfer cable that can allow your PC to connect to the HDD (eg. USB to SATA or USB to IDE), and software for making and transferring HDD images. In the end, it may not even be worth the effort, because it may just not work.
Essentially, if you don't know what any of the stuff above is, don't try this. You'll prolly just end up screwing up your HDD.
Like I said earlier, your best bet would be to go to a dealership and ask their technicians about it. It'll cost ~$300 in total, depending on the dealerships service charges, charges for installing the nav software, and the price of the HDD, which, of course, depends on the brand/size.
If you do have a tech friend who can help you with all of this (and by that I don't mean the rich kid who "built" his computer. Be wary of him, he often times doesn't know what he's doing), you may have a shot. Brands of HDDs I recommend are Seagate, Western Digital, and Maxtor (Seagate 1, with the other two tied).
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Cleveland, OH
I'm pretty confident in my ability working with the hard drives.
Once I look into figuring out how to get the hard drive out, all I'll I have to do is take a new hard drive and make an exact clone of the original HDD onto the new one using a computer.
That's the hope at least! I'll be documenting everything with photos, and I'll be sure to share!
Once I look into figuring out how to get the hard drive out, all I'll I have to do is take a new hard drive and make an exact clone of the original HDD onto the new one using a computer.
That's the hope at least! I'll be documenting everything with photos, and I'll be sure to share!
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Ye Area
I'm pretty confident in my ability working with the hard drives.
Once I look into figuring out how to get the hard drive out, all I'll I have to do is take a new hard drive and make an exact clone of the original HDD onto the new one using a computer.
That's the hope at least! I'll be documenting everything with photos, and I'll be sure to share!
Once I look into figuring out how to get the hard drive out, all I'll I have to do is take a new hard drive and make an exact clone of the original HDD onto the new one using a computer.
That's the hope at least! I'll be documenting everything with photos, and I'll be sure to share!
I'll definitely be watching and see if I can help along the way, considering this would be something I'd love to do myself sometime in the future. Let's hope it works.
I just got my Lancer and it seems as if the HDD is below the CD drive. I could be terribly wrong, but it seems right to me. How you get it out...not sure yet.
Last edited by metaleggman; Aug 24, 2008 at 05:13 PM.